Pretty is pain
by jgirl6906
Summary: I hate this confusion. It hurts. Every time i think about it, my heart aches. This is my fault. The questions rise and i think, "Where is he? Will he come back? Does he.. Love me?"** A Kid/OC fic. Done my way, which means, well, why don't you come see? :
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, readers! Please enjoy my first fanfic! (*angel choir sings*) Yes! Exciting! So let's begin our journey into Pretty is Pain. **

**Also, I apologize for I am going to take a long time to get into the real story's plot, but hopefully it's a fun ride along the way. I will try to update often, because I love you all! **

**Chapter One: For Dairy Queen!**

"Ikiru! What the hell are we doing?"

"I'm not even sure, but we can't just let that _thing_ get away! Change into weapon form!"

"But-"

"Hurry!"

"Fine!"

Kage had never really been good under pressure… or any kind of danger. I felt kind of bad, possibly putting him at risk like this, but I would have felt worse letting whatever that monster is get away with killing that woman and go off to possibly kill more.

It was terrible. A lanky, eight-foot-tall creature with jet-black skin and these white spikes protruding down its spine. It also had these two, long white blades on its wrists that Kage and I saw it use to slice off a woman's head as she was walking in the mall parking lot.

It was ten PM when we arrived with a Massive Dairy Queen craving and left a half hour later at closing. That's when we saw this creature literally jump out of the shadows and cut off that poor lady's head, which he attached to this large metal chain hanging around his neck that possessed an array of other decapitated women's heads. If that wasn't disturbing enough, he swallowed this odd blue orb that appeared over her shortly after her death.

Insane, I know. I didn't really believe it yet either.

When he ran off, Kage and I just looked at each other in a sort of dumbstruck horror and walked over to the body. It was then that I noticed the Dairy Queen uniform she was wearing and realized that she was the one who had served us our ice cream. That's when I knew this bastard had to be stopped. By us.

I sprinted after him and Kage followed, unaware of what the hell I had in mind.

Okay, now that you're caught up in how it all came to this, let's get back to the present.

A dark green light engulfed Kage's body when he began changing form and fell into my hand as he became the handle of a spiky ball on a chain known as a flial. He looked heavy, but still astounded me by how light he felt as I swung him around a few times as practice. Then I remembered that he'd only changed like this with me three times before.

I followed the monster into a dark alley that I knew had a dead end. Good. He will have to fight, I won't let him get away.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Soul Eater, though I do own some fish, a bed, a television, and an evil version of myself (her name is acissej. Creative, I know). Just not Soul Eater *whimper* . Well, see you soon for the next installment and be sure to praise/flame/or simply PM me to start up a random conversation about anything, as I am always open to those! (it may be awhile before I reply though, so patience is appreciated) Bye! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, I'm baaaaaack! (cries of despair are heard from every direction as swarms of people quickly flee ) Come on this is gonna be fun! Now come out of hiding so you can come read chapter two already, I promise not to put anybody in the pet cages of fun so that they have to watch Soul Eater with me, really, I'm just updating… This time. Muahahahaha! Well Enjoy! ^-^**

**Chapter 2: Save me trash, lady!**

I moved quietly through the shadows of the alley, hoping he wasn't aware of me approaching. I held Kage comfortably slung over my shoulder, but still ready to swing if I needed to.

_God, this thing is disgusting. _With drool running down his maw, he is probably one of the ugliest things I've ever seen. He kept moving forward, to stupid to realize that #1, he was being followed, and #2 there was a big, red brick wall straight ahead of him, leading him nowhere. _I have to act now before he finds some alternative route out. _"Ikiru!" Kage's voice was an angry whisper " You're going to get us killed!"

"I will if you don't shut up." _I can't let him get me scared. _" Just let me concentrate!"

I gripped Kage with both hands and charged.

The creature seemed to acknowledge my presence only after Kage made contact with him. I whipped the flial across his chest, from right to left, and as the inertia of the heavy ball flung him back, the spikes created six long gashes right under his ribs. There was no blood. _What the hell is this thing?…_

The only reason we were able to wound him so easily was because I had caught him by surprise. Now as I was standing there in a state of wonder, he found it a good opportunity for a return attack.

"Snap out of it!" The urgency in this familiar voice caught my brain's attention, and it gave me a well deserved slap to the face .

I quickly wrapped Kage around the wrist blade that was barreling down on me and pulled hard to fly above it. The only problem now it seems was getting Kage the fuck off of the blade, I pulled and shook and even pouted a bit, but Kage was stuck on there good and we were doomed. Realizing my fault, the creature easily swung me into the ground again and again, much like how a child would play with a yo-yo.

"Ow…"

_My face feels like someone just tried to clean it with a floor polisher. _I withstand the pain to look up though, and saw Kage lying on the ground in his human form, unconscious. I began moving towards unconsciousness too, but jolted back to full awareness as the monster painfully picked me up by my hair.

"Such a pretty girl!" He cackled. "You will make a lovely addition to my necklace!"

"Shut up!" _Now I'm mad. Who the hell does this guy think he is? _" Not even the nicest of jewelry could compliment someone as ugly as you. You look like you're made of a bunch of pocket knives poking through some shitty faux leather purse."

" Gahaha oooh a feisty one! It will be enjoyable to eat such an energetic soul. "

"My soul?.."

I gasped as his left blade came racing towards my neck and-CRASH!

We were both distracted from our fun as someone fell off the building and into a trash bin ten feet away. A girl quickly climbed out.

"Great, Soul now we look ridiculous!" she fumed. "We have to stop doing that.."

A voice came down from someone I couldn't see "Hey, don't blame me! Cool people aren't clumsy enough to be falling into garbage all the time like you do Tinytits."

The girl retrieved a massive book out from behind her, (I couldn't see where she had room for it) but seeming to remember something, she put it back. A boy then came down from the building and landed on his feet right beside her.

"See?' he gave her a sly smile.

"We will continue this conversation later, right now we have to deal with him." she said, and nodded towards Captain Knife-bag and I.

"Cool with me."

The girl extended her arm towards the boy as he became engulfed by a white light and changed into…. A scythe? _Ok, it's getting even weirder now.. _She used both hands to rotate the scythe a couple of times around her body (which I'll admit, looked really badass) before holding him defensively in front of her.

She turned to the creature "Ted Bundy, you have killed over 50 women and have now become a kishin egg. That is why it's my duty to reclaim your soul before it can do any more harm and grow into a kishin. I will take your soul!"

**Alright so what do you think? Please answer this question with a little mouse nudge on the review button.**Thanks to duckie lover 151 for helping me fix any previous grammatical errors, as I had asked for her help ^_^** I noticed, as I'm sure anyone who read it did, that my first chapter was veryyyy short, so I'm doing my best to extend chapters from now on until they are an appropriate length. I Don't own soul eater or Soul or Maka ( if you didn't realize yet that the boy and girl are them, then oops.. spoiler alert!) or even Ted Bundy considering he was a real killer, but I do own Kage and Ikiru XD yesss. **


	3. Chapter 3

**-[=My Chapters are g-r-o-w-i-n-g. Yay! 7 reviews, my mind is exploding! Thanks for all the reviews and advice; they are my catnip! ^-^ I Still don't own Soul eater, you evil lawyers! Be gone!**

**Chapter 3: Did you know ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in 30% of cases? **

"Ted" dropped me and stood defensively between the scythe-wielding girl and me. I had a small feeling he wasn't trying to protect me from the pair, more like keep them from taking his next meal.

" More academy kids?" he spoke in a dangerous growl. "Just go and leave me to my dinner and I won't have to make you into jewelry also!" _I think that was supposed to be a threat…_

The part about the jewelry had the girl wearing a confused look, but she shook it off and glared at Ted. "You will never kill again."

She charged him, just as I had not too long ago, but she came at him in a different way. As she bolted towards the enemy, she had this look in her green eyes that said "You are about to die." If someone had seen me attack this Ted guy, they would probably say the look in my eyes said something along the lines of "I'm just going to hit you really hard and hope for the best!"

Their blades collided mid-air and she used her scythe to pivot around his blade, jump off a wall and come swinging at him from the opposite direction. Once again their blades collided, just on his left side now. She fell to the ground and began blocking his attacks without missing a beat. _Damn, this girl is fast. Where did she come from anyway, how did she learn to fight like this?_

The monster frantically danced around her in a desperate attempt to find an opening, but each time he attacked she almost mocked his attempts in the way she moved her weapon the slightest to block him. All her moves were swift and dainty, as if she didn't feel the need to waste any energy in this fight. It drove Ted mad and soon the swinging of his blades began to slow and falter. The whole time she had just been trying to wear him out, and he realized this much too late.

Seeing her victory approaching, the girl smiled determinedly and began to barrage him with attacks of her own. Each swing of her scythe clean and powerful, I didn't really blame Ted for simply backing away as means of avoiding them. She advanced on him with every step he made. When she lunged in for the kill, Ted threw himself backwards, only to be met by a brick wall and the blade of a scythe shortly after. She made slicing his body in half seem entirely effortless. His body disintegrated to leave behind a floating red orb.

She appreciated her handiwork as her scythe changed back into a boy, who then snatched up the red orb and pushed it into his mouth. By the time he swallowed I was already preparing to vomit. I bent over but forced my sick stomach to keep its contents as I jumped up to the voice addressing me.

"I haven't seen you at the DWMA before. Hi, I'm Maka Albarn, and this is my partner Soul Eater." she gestured to scythe-boy, happy to try and make a new; friend her voice was kind and light.

Maka was around 5'3 seemed about 15 years old. She had the largest, most beautiful pair of deep green eyes I had ever seen. Her dirty blonde hair fell in an array of acute triangles surrounding her eyes, and two pigtails poked out from each side of head and fell to her shoulders. With the fight over she looked friendly and polite, but knowing what damage she can do without even breaking a sweat, Maka had earned my respect. She wore this long black coat that opened at the stomach and fell to her ankles, where I noticed a really awesome pair of boots that had these cool belt loops all over them. Her tie matched her eyes except for the white stripes moving down it. She also had on gloves, a light yellow sweater, and a red and black checkered skirt. My impression of Maka so far is badass, especially if she always manages to slay monsters in a miniskirt.

Soul was just the slightest bit taller than Maka and seemed the same age. His eyes looked like they took the form of the orb he had just eaten, an almost glowing blood-red color both beautiful and frightening. He gave me a sideways smile with his pointy shark-like teeth, and I tried my best to smile back without seeming shocked. His hair was snow white, spiked pointing back and to the left. Soul seemed sharp and dangerous, not much of a difference between now and his weapon form. As a scythe he stood about 6 feet tall. The blade long and elegantly curved, decorated with a zigzag design of half red, half black. Where the blade met the shaft, a red eye-like design seemed to be looking upon those it sliced. Now in his human form, he wore a black and yellow sweatshirt and no, it wasn't that stupid bumblebee print, it was a torso of dark yellow with jet-black sleeves. The pair of red jeans he wore matched his eyes. His forehead sported a headband that read 'soul' and was decorated with a picture of lips grinning to reveal pointed teeth. It suited him. Right now, I find Soul to be somewhat intimidating, as I'm still a bit concerned he's going to turn back into a scythe and chop me up.

I still hadn't spoken back to Maka, just kept staring at them like some creeper. Things were getting awkward really fast as Soul and Maka shared a sideways glance.

"Th-thank you for um… that." I finally stammered and glanced over to where "Ted" used to be. _You sound like a two year old! _I mentally cursed myself. _Grow a pair and talk like the high school sophomore you are! _

" It was no problem," Now that it was obvious how freaked out I was, she tried to seem as friendly as ever. " Soul and I were already after that kishin egg, we just didn't expect to find him fighting another weapon and meister pair from the academy."

"Maka, they aren't from the Academy." Soul informed.

Maka turned to him with a questioning stare.

" Just look at her, she's entirely freaked out by us and by the fight. Even though a student from a lower ranking class than ours could get scared by both, it's also obvious that she has no idea what your talking about." _I'm glad he broke the news to her, now I can cross that off my to-do list._

Maka now directed her questioning stare at me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ikiru, and that's my friend Kage" I nodded towards Kage's still form, a bit embarrassed that he was still unconscious.

"Oh." She seemed worried. " I didn't notice him, should I check his pulse…?"

"No need, he's fine. I can almost.. _sense_ it, if that doesn't sound too weird." _What am I saying? Well, I guess I'm not too much of a freak in their eyes compared to how Maka fell off a building into a trash bin and how Soul can turn into a scythe._

"Nope, I get it. You have a normal weapon/meister connection." _Oh good… I think?_

"Ok, that's the thing, what's the difference between a weapon and meister, and what's the DWMA and all that other stuff you've been talking about?"

"You mean you don't know any of it?'

My head moved from side to side. "Not one word."

"Live under a rock by any chance?"

_Maybe. _" Well Kage and I come from a small town where anyone remotely different from the whole is just shunned." We knew from experience. " So I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that all the things I just asked you don't fit into the category of 'normal'"

"Well, it's normal for me, I grew up surrounded by as much 'not normal' as a person can." She laughed a bit and I joined in, knowing I of all people could relate to that. "Ok, so to answer your questions, A weapon and meister are a battling pair, the weapon is a human who can change their form to that of practically any hand-held weapon you could think of. Soul, for example, is a Demon scythe-"

" And Maka's honorable Father is the great Death Scythe!" Soul interrupted, Seeming to tease Maka.

This time Maka wasted no time in thinking before she slammed her exceptionally large book down on Soul's head, after which he collapsed to the ground with a new book-shaped crater in his skull. Maka turned back to me, a satisfied smirk on her face. The book seeming to have disappeared, she continued her explanation. " and a Meister wields the weapon with full control, they are the BOSS." she said that last part in the direction of Soul's unconscious form. Her words reigned true. "The whole point of the weapon is to amplify the meister's soul wavelength. Together we fight evils such as witches and kishin eggs, Ted Bundy is a good example. At the Death Weapon Meister Academy, also know as the DWMA, meisters must take the souls of 99 kishin eggs and one witch and feed them to their weapons. Afterwards, they would transform into a more powerful death weapon eligible for use by Lord Death, the founder of the DWMA. The floating orb that appeared after that kishin egg died was his soul. They have red souls, us humans have blue souls, and witches have purple souls."

_Oh god, I hope I can remember all this. Is there going to be a test?_

After looking at what was probably a very worried expression painted on my face, the now recovering Soul said, " Don't be intimidated by her, for what she doesn't have in boobs Maka has in brains. Maka's at the top of the class."

Soul didn't seem to have learned because he is once again unconscious thanks to the six-hundred pages of paper in a hardcover binding that Maka has once again used as a weapon, for her weapon. " Well excuse me for trying to give a thorough answer!" She nearly exploded.

"No, no Maka that was a great explanation," I have to calm her down before she gives Soul a brain aneurysm! " answered all my questions, thank you!" I smiled as largely as possible.

She seemed fully over it when she asked "So, what about you two? If you're not from the DWMA why are you two a weapon pair? How did you get here?" she gestured to the Alley around us.

**I promise that I will fit descriptions of both Ikiru and Kage into the next chapter! I pinky swear! Please don't come to my house and beat me up, you can take Mr. Whiskers! "meow?" what? Of course I'm not going put you in a pet cage! Those are for people, silly! Review please! XD **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took me longer than normal to update I haven't had the time lately due to schoolwork and, sadly, I care about my grades. If I didn't, I would probably update every day. Yup, sadness. But it's ok because now I have updated and we may all rejoice in the (poorly written, yet nicely edited) glory that is chapter 4! ^-^ enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Waving is simple, just lift your arm and rock it from side to side**

"Well you see," I replied. "Kage and I really wanted to go to Dairy Queen-"

"What's Dairy Queen?"

I'm shocked, to say the least. "What? It's only the best ice cream ever!" _How does she not know about Dairy queen?.._

"Isn't it a bit late for ice cream?.."

"You don't understand. When you want Dairy Queen, you get Dairy Queen. No alternatives."

"Ok….." If she didn't think I was crazy before, she surely does now. _I'll have to bring her to Dairy Queen sometime, then she'll understand._

"So continue then."

"Alright, so we went to the Dairy Queen in the mall and as we were walking out, that kishin thing jumped out of nowhere at this women and ate her "soul", so we went after him to try and stop him."

"Weren't you scared, I mean, you haven't done anything like this before, right? And how did you know your friend was a weapon that you could use?"

"I was scared, of course, but I was really more angry. About Kage being a weapon, well" I smiled thinking of the first time we met, even then he was freakishly tall. " we have always been really close. I moved into the house next-door when I was seven and we became instant friends." He was so shy and polite, and it didn't seem to matter what I looked like, he was just my friend and that was it. We stayed friends even through junior high, where those damn preppy cheerleaders wanted me in their clique, and those dogs of jocks hit on me. They were all assholes to Kage, just because they thought he was nerdy looking, so I ignored them (sometimes with my fists..). He was strong and loyal, and that's what I like best in a friend. " We only ever truly understood each other," I continued, as it seemed I spaced out back there… " So when Kage freaked out and confided in me that he was a weapon, I told him I thought it was actually kind of cool, hoped we could be superheroes, him being the sidekick of course. He said no, Kage was afraid I would get shot or something. That's when I had the idea of training to use Kage to defend myself. We only got to train about three times before tonight though, which explains why you guys had to come save us..."

"Uughh" I heard a formerly-unconscious someone groan. "Ikiru! I'm so sorry! You're all messed up, blood is on the side of your mouth.."

I ignored the apology, he had no reason to give it. I quickly wiped my sleeve along my mouth and replied cheerfully. " Good morning sleeping beauty! Have a good rest?"

Kage's eyes hardened on me. "Ikiru, really. That was dangerous, I would have told you no and refused to change, but you're so damn headstrong you would have just tried to fight that thing bare-handed."

He was right of course, but I wasn't going to comment, he knew he was right. We glared at each other in an uncomfortable silence. His black rimmed, rectangular glasses lay on the ground, broken, so his light blue eyes bore into me without any disturbance. The orange hair on his head lay messy after his "rest", different from his usual style that resembled the spikes on a flial perfectly. He towered over me at six feet tall, which is cause for worry when you take into consideration his clumsy nature. He wore his usual outfit of a black long-sleeve button up shirt, grey skinny jeans, and a pair of rainbow hightops. Don't ask about the shoes, he not only believes they are lucky, but likes how they add a "splash of color to his every-day outfit." I gave them to him three months ago for his sixteenth birthday, but I didn't think he would like them this much.

As I seemed to be refusing to speak, Kage not only broke the silence, but changed the subject ."Who are they?" He asked while giving my new, um, friends (?) a little wave.

"That's Soul and Maka, after you passed out they kind of came to the rescue and saved my head from being attached to a creepy necklace thingy. They're pretty cool."

Soul looked at me with total acceptance after I said he and Maka were cool, then turned to Kage "Hey."

Maka seemed to be doing her best to ignore Soul's reaction to my compliment as she gave Kage a "Hi."

"You know," Maka thought out loud "I think we should report to Lord Death about you two. He should decide what we do."

I simply nodded in response and ignored Kage's confused glares to me. I really didn't feel like explaining, so I thought maybe he will just figure it out as we go along.

Maka walked up to a foggy window and began writing a series of numbers. I didn't understand what she was doing, but at this point I stopped questioning the weird occurrences and decided to just go with the flow. Maka stepped back as the numbers began to pulse and glow white. 42-42-564. Suddenly, an image appeared on the large window, causing Kage to gasp and jump back.

"Well hello, hello, hello! What's up you guys? How you doin?" The guy on the window-screen thingy had a ridiculous sounding voice for someone known as Lord Death, It was so bubbly and friendly. Even his mask didn't fit into his stereotype, a bit silly and not at all threatening. It did seem to fit his personality though.

"Good sir, we have just gained the soul of another Kishin egg." Maka replied proudly.

"Very good!" He exclaimed "and ohh!" His face took up the entire screen as he leaned towards us "Who's that you got there?"

"This is weapon a pair we found fighting the Kishin when we arrived. Meet meister Ikiru and weapon Kage."

"Nice to meet you two! I'm Lord Death." He waved his gigantic white-gloved hand around. The eyeholes in his mask seemed to bend up in a way that gave him an excited, happy look.

I tried my best to look friendly as I gave him a small wave in return. Kage didn't seem able to handle such gestures at the moment, so I lifted his arm and waved it for him. It made me feel more comfortable, as doing things like this to Kage, almost to make fun of him, were much more familiar than talking to Death after being saved from a monster.

Lord Death turned back to Maka and Soul and asked in a whisper, " Is he going to be ok?.."

"We think so but we aren't making any promises." Soul replied in full seriousness.

Maka continued the previous conversation. " They aren't students at the academy, let alone having ever heard of it before. They became a weapon pair and fought a kishin, not knowing that is what weapons are meant to be used for. They just fought an evil once they saw it. It seems that they are naturals, and I think they would be great additions to the academy."

"How smart of you Maka! I 100% agree. Consider Ikiru and Kage enrolled, they should make the trip to Death City, Nevada tonight! Please escort them and bring them to meet me right after you arrive. Bye-bye!"

I was still concentrating on trying not to laugh at his voice when realization struck. "Wait what?"

"But-" Maka was too late though, his figure had already disappeared and the screen had once again become an ordinary window. No evidence was left that the personification of death had just given me life-changing news from that window. None at all.

"What the hell just happened?" _I don't understand!_

"I'm sorry, what I said was just a suggestion, I didn't think he would take it as if you had already decided to join…" She looked really guilty, and not nearly as shocked as I felt.

"Clam down, Ikiru, maybe this is a good thing."

For a while now I had forgotten Kage had the ability to speak "How can this be good? We have no idea what we are doing or where we are going." _I still don't understand_!

He looked on the verge of annoyance "And what's so bad about that? You're always complaining about how boring life is here. No excitement or adventure at all. Now you have the opportunity to leave this place and you freak out? You can't be scared, because I know you don't get scared."

The ground was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world to me as I stared intensely at it.

Kage continued his rant "This is also a good opportunity to learn to fight. Maka and Soul came from that school, correct? They saved you, so they must have learned something there. I don't want what happened here tonight to ever happen again, you almost died. I know that you're a fucking danger magnet though, so it's a better idea to learn to defend ourselves then to try and avoid danger overall."

_He has a point. _"How can you be so willing to just get up and leave everything we have ever known?" I knew the answer the moment I finished asking.

"Because I don't have much to miss."

I looked up at him with an understanding smile.

"Well, I guess we're going, because I don't either."

**Ok so in case you hadn't noticed, I put Ikiru's thoughts in italics in this chapter and all previous so that it doesn't seem like she's jumping back and forth from present to past tense anymore, so yay for that! I hope I'm improving a bit as we go along and yes, I know that I didn't give a description of Ikiru yet -_-' please don't rub it in, it's just that putting the description in this chapter didn't fit into how I planned the story to go, but it will without a doubt be in the next chapter so please be patient, much thanks. Thank you for sticking with me through another chapter I really appreciate it! 3 *Hugs everyone***

**Please review (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**It's that time of the author's note again! That special time of every update (increasingly) when I apologize for taking so long to update. Now for the excuse, I have been irresponsible and been procrastinating on updating because 1) I lost one of the pages for the story I had written down (double sided of course .) , so I will have to rewrite it, and 2) I have been busy with schoolwork, as midterms are coming up so I have to study and get all my makeup work in before the marking period ends. (the truth: I have recently discovered claymore and have been reading it when I get home from school rather than writing.) I hope that once again you find it in your hearts to forgive me and continue reading ^-^. Mr. Whiskers thanks you! (he also wants to ask you if you have any catnip he can buy, as he has gone through all that I gave him for Christmas in a day. I keep telling him he has a problem but I buy him more because then he gets violent with me ),: help!)**

**Chapter 5 :**

I remained completely still even though Kage stopped the car. I didn't want to leave the safety of the road and enter that place I knew all too well.

My dread must have seeped into my features because Kage gave me a pitied look. "Need me to come with you?"

"No. Thank you, but I can handle this myself." I knew I was walking into a fight with my mother, but I found confidence in the fact that it was going to be the last. I marched towards my mother's home and strode through the door.

She sat in her lounge chair, as she always did. When she stared at the television I could see the right side of her face. Features that mirrored my own, just with around thirty years added to them. She then turned to see who had come through the door, and her scared cheek was now visible. "Ikiru! Where have you been? How dare you come home this late, do you know what time it is!"

Our house could almost be an alcoholic's paradise. They would come in to find the floors carpeted in bottles of every type of liquor imaginable. Beers, wines, vodkas, rums, gins, you name it. They would be launched from their high, literally, when they find that each and every one of these bottles is empty. Sucked dry.

"I don't know, Mom, do _you_ know what time it is?" I tried to sound as cold and sarcastic as possible. In other words, I tried to express exactly how I was feeling.

Her wildly drunk eyes stared daggers at me. "Don't be a wise-ass, honey, nobody likes a wise-ass," she nagged. "Then again, you're pretty enough to get away with it, so that shouldn't really matter, right sweetie?" She then smiled, knowing she had hit a sore spot. I tried to think of a comeback, but my wise-ass brain had gone into flashback mode. Damn it.

…

I was five, and I had seen another five year old on TV go to Kindergarten. It looked really fun, and I was getting excited about going too. "Mommy! Can I go to school soon?"

"Shhh! No, Ikiru, Mommy has a headache. (If headache meant "drunk to the point of passing out" then yes, she had a bad headache.) You're so cute, you really don't even need school anyway. Other people will give you whatever you want just to try and make you happy. You can wait till first grade if you really want to go, then a bus will come to get you."

Whenever I asked for anything it was the same reaction. "Mom, can we go to the library?"

"What?" She acted as if I asked her if I could have some cocaine. "Why would you want to go there?"

"My teacher says that all the second graders have to go and find a book to read and describe to the class."

"All you care about is yourself and school! You never want to stay and help your sick mother with up keeping the house!" Sick my ass. "What have I always told you? Nobody is going to really care how smart you are; the world is too shallow to see past your looks. Nobody will ever see you as anything but a pretty face, so why don't you stop trying and just help Mommy to the bathroom, because I think I'm going to be sick."

…

It was never her fault that everything I wanted didn't matter, it was all due to my looks. I remember always studying my image in the mirror. Black and brown curls rolled down from the top of the head like curled stripes, framing a heart-shaped face in which the hair stopped level with the chin. After you moved through the thick blanket of lashes you were met by a striking pair of deep purple eyes, the purple so dark that it looked almost black. What caught your attention most about these eyes was that in the purple, were randomly placed specks of silvery white that sparkled in the sun and almost seemed to glow in the darkness. Just below the eyes rose two mountains, a peachy red staining each peak. The nose was small and dainty, perfectly proportionate to the rest of the face. Lastly, you came to the rose-colored lips, the bottom lip slightly fuller then the top, and taking that perfect tulip shape. What defined pretty? Was this it? Was this what denied me everything I wanted? As these thoughts took me I remembered when the hatred for my looks blossomed and I began to try and fix my face. Tears ran down my eyes as I tried to pull out half my eyelashes to make them less thick, and had just finished trimming them when my mother walked in and told me what I was doing was insane, that I had to never do it again. I obeyed her like I always did, and as the lashes grew back and remained upon my face, the hatred of being called pretty grew and has yet to leave me.

My mom though, she has all these same features yet she doesn't do anything but stay at home, using Dad's child support to just cover the price of her bliss while I have always had to do the shopping, cooking, laundry, and cleaning. She had to go out at some point in her life, she had to leave the house to meet my father, but she probably stopped after getting that scar. She never talks about where it came from. When I asked, I got told how it was none of my business, and she really downed her drinks that night. There are pictures of her on the wall as a teenager, scarless, so all I know is that she wasn't born with it. There are no pictures of my dad, but he left when I was a baby, so I don't know much about him either. I do have this necklace he gave me before he left. It's kind of weird, but it's earthy and I like it. The chain is woven from this strong green fabric that seems like it was rough at one point, but has softened over years of constant wear. At the base of the chain is a heart the size of a nickel, made entirely out of fox teeth. I like wearing the necklace, it's come to the point where it's like a security blanket for me, I'm so used to having it on that I'm almost sad when it's not on my neck.

I not only came back to the present, but thought of something to say. "Well, Mom, if you had just remembered I was staying over Kage's house tonight, you would be asking me why I'm not there."

She had been bitterly waiting for me to bring my attention back to fighting, as it's the only excitement she gets all day. "It's not my fault you failed to tell me you would be staying over your little _boyfriend_'s house tonight."

This stirred my anger some as I began to shout. "He's not my boyfriend! We are just friends and you would know that if you _ever_ paid any attention to me!" I emphasized 'ever' the same way she did with 'boyfriend' so that our comments had equal power. Fighting with her is just like a game, and I had just gotten ahead when I not only complained, but pointed out how she was wrong.

"Don't start again with that sob story, Miss!" She outdid me now by mentioning past fights she has won, and calling me something that wasn't my name. Of course, names worse than 'Miss' get you farther ahead, but it still fits in that category.

_It's not time to fight with her. You're leaving. You have to get to the point._ I cleared my head best I could and calmed my features. "Mom, It's time for me to grow up-"

"About time."

_Damn, she still thinks we're playing the game._ I decided to ignore her and just continue, as there would be hope if she stopped being immature and listened. "It's time for you to grow up too. I'm leaving tonight, I'm going to a boarding school where I can be something. I don't want to stay here all my life babysitting you, contrary to your hopes. It was never my job to take care of you, not when I still needed to be taken care of myself. You weren't the nurturing mother I wanted you to be, but I forgive you. I'm strong now because of it, though I can't be expected to keep this up forever. I have my own life to make, and this is your wakeup call to get yours in line, because I'm not going to be here to do it for you." It felt good to not only tell her off, but to do it in her benefit. Mom obviously wasn't feeling as good about it.

The cold stare she gave me almost seemed to sober her. "You aren't leaving. Wherever you go, nobody is ever going to take you seriously. Any skills you have will be overlooked because your of pretty face, and you will be seen as nothing more than the pretty girl making an attempt to be smart and successful. How _cute_. Like she really could! Then, after you accumulate people around you who really seem to care, your beauty begins to fade and they disappear like ugly is some form of contagious disease. No one will really care, and one day you're going to have nobody left to give a damn. You will fall to pieces with no hope of completing the puzzle again, which will force you to return back here. Don't expect me to be here when you return. Your fate will be decided the moment you walk out that door." The voice was even colder than the stare, up until the very end, where anger seeped into her tone.

_I can't let her get to me now, I've already decided what I'm going to do._ "This isn't your decision and I wasn't asking your opinion, I was simply telling you I'm leaving and giving you advice on what to do when I'm gone." I kept my voice strong even though guilt had begun to eat away at me. "I'm going to go get my things." I strode past her, my head held high.

To my surprise she stayed entirely silent, watching me leave the room and walk down the hall.

I reached straight for the GI JOE adventure team walkie talkie on my dresser once my door had shut. Pressing the voice button, I called for Kage. "Kage? Kage, do you read me? Over."

I was immediately comforted when I heard him. "Hey Ikiru, how did it go?"

He never used the appropriate walkie talkie talk. Sigh. "Mission successful, I will be ready to meet at home base at 0 hundred hours."

"Ok good, so you will meet me at the car in-" He paused, probably to check his watch. "six minutes, at midnight?"

"Affirmative."

"Alright, I'll be there soon after. See you then."

"Affirmative." (I was running out of military-sounding words...) "Over and out."

There was no need to ask Kage how it went with his parents. They weren't there, as always. To Kage, his parents were in the form of his Iphone. The best the bonding got would be when they would text him how work was that day, or call to tell him "Happy Birthday" Neither seemed often enough. His mother called three weeks ago to wish him a belated birthday, because she had been very 'busy'. Those bastards, I'm surprised they even remembered they created a kid. They are both 'International Business Executives' for some big company I've never even heard of, but the pay must be pretty good because Kage's family is loaded. My house is pretty big, (my father must have purchased it and left it to my mother and I) but Kage's is at least triple the size. He even has a nanny, named Ann. Staying over Kage's house was my favorite thing to do when I could sneak away from my mother, because Ann would do all the jobs usually assigned to me, and I could just have fun. If you looked at Kage, It would be pretty hard to tell he was rich. Spend time with him though, and you notice he can't do anything on his own. He especially can't be expected to make decent food, as I didn't even trust him to 'cook' us some toast on mornings Ann was shopping. He burns the hell out of it because even though he has one of those toaster ovens where you have to watch it so the toast won't blacken, he expects it to just take care of itself and will walk away from it. My favorite part about Kage's house had to be the library though. There was a seemingly endless supply of books, and nobody would neither care nor notice when I borrowed as many as I wanted. When I would get a nightmare after watching some movie on the civil war, (which happened often considering Kage is a history buff) I could go to the library and stay awake, reading for however many hours it took before the sun rose and it was time for me to make Kage toast.

I packed my bag pretty quickly, throwing in my most dearly beloved books and mangas, as well as all my black skinny jeans and my black shirts that have white fabric zigzagging across corset-looking design down the front until it reaches my waist, where it stops right above a white belt. The sleeves are normal-looking short sleeves at the top, but then fishnet flows down my arms, extending the sleeve to my wrist where it's stopped by a thin circle of white fabric, ending in a black lace trim. I also throw in my other pair of high-heeled knee-boots, and girly things such as my bras and underwear, but you don't really need to know that, it should be assumed.

I looked at my mother one last time as I walked out the door, but she wouldn't look me in the eye. If she's right and I do come back, I hope she's not here. She should be going outside and living, not traveling back and forth to the liquor store so often that there is an indented path in the road from her car.

I noticed Soul's bike that he rode here parked in front of Kage's car, ready to lead us on the 15 hour drive from our chilly home in Washington, to the deserts of Death City, Nevada. Soul and Maka were nowhere to be found, but it was a cold night, so Kage probably invited them inside with him. I climbed into the car with extreme urgency, as it wasn't until that moment that I realized how tired I was. My bad dreams have really kept me up the past few nights, and my body was suffering the consequences none too quietly.

Kage's voice traveling out of my bag gave me a jolt. "I'm on my way to the car." But I was too tired to go searching through my bag to answer him. My body wouldn't move, was too tired to even open my eyes, and the only thing that remained awake was my mind. I began to hear mumbled voices traveling towards the car. In the state I was in, the voices just traveled through my ears, my mind too tired to process the meanings of anything being said, just sounds. I did know who the voices belonged to, I first recognized Kage's.

"So we are going to a school ran by the guy in the window, where we learn to kill a bunch of kishin monsters and take their souls?"

"Pretty much," replied Maka.

"And I have to _eat_ the souls?" He sounded just as disgusted as I was watching Soul eat one.

"It's not bad at all, has a good texture. Just don't worry about it," said Soul.

The voices sounded out in front of the car now.

Kage's voice quieted a bit. "Thank you for coming when you did. I know it was your job to kill him, but thank you anyway. Ikiru almost died out there tonight, and I don't think I would be able to deal with myself if she had been killed right in front of me, and I wasn't even aware until it was too late. That's why we have to go to the DWMA, to get stronger so that nothing like that will happen to her again."

It was then that sleep finally took hold of my mind, and I slept until Kage woke me in our bright new home, Death City, Nevada.

**Hope you liked it, review please! (:**


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